Less Than 24 Percent of Guns Seized by Mexican Authorities in 2008 Were Traced Back to U.S.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009
By Edwin Mora

(CNSNews.com) - Less than 24 percent of the guns seized last year by Mexican authorities, mostly from drug trafficking organizations, were traced back to the United States, according to data released in a report by the Government Accountability Office.

Of the 30,000 guns seized by Mexican authorities in 2008, only 7,200, or approximately 24 percent, were submitted to the U.S. for tracing. Of those 7,200 firearms, 6,700 (or about 22 percent) were actually determined to have originated in the United States.

The country of origin for the remaining 22,800 guns seized by Mexico that were not traced cannot be known.

“Government of Mexico officials told us almost all of them were seized in operations against the drug cartels,â€